Wood-bending machine.



No. 734,327. .PATBNTBD JULYZI, 14903..

W. B. HICKS.

WOOD B-ENDING MACHINE.

APPLIOATINIILED MAB.. 17., 1903. I

11o-MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Tn: Noms PETERS co.. Pumaunn.. WASNINOTON, P. c.

No, 7a4-,1327. PA-TENfrED JULY21',190 3.

. W. B; HICKS.

Woon BBNDING MACHINE.

'APPLIOATION rum) MAB. 17. .1903. No MODEL.

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- UNITED STATES Patented July 21, 1903.

PATENT OEEICE.

WILLIAM B. HICKS, OF BISCOE, NORTH CAROLINA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO EDGAR R. BURT, OF BISCOE, NORTH CAROLINA.

wooo-BEN'DING-MAo'HlNE.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of Lettersl Patent No. 7534,327, dated July 21, 190,3,

Application filed March I7, 1903. Serial No. 148,142. (No model.)

T all whom it may concern/f Be it known that I, WILLIAM B. HICKS, of Biscoe, in the county ofMontgomery and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wood-Bending Machines; and I hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this speciro fication.

This invention is an improvement in woodbending machines, and is particularly designed for usein bending bars or rods of Wood, such as are used in the manufacture of chairs,

and also useful for bending wood andotherv material for other purposes in the arts.

The object of the invention is to provide a machine which can be readily adapted to bend the bars or rods into a variety of desired shapes, which can 'be cheaply constructed and will be efficient and powerful in operation, and which canbe readily adapted when once known forbending manysizes and shapes of rods'or bars.

The invention comprises both means for bending either one or both ends of a bar and also means for retaining the bars in bent shape until set, the retaining means being part` of the bending-machine, as will be hereinafj transversely of the frame and at right angles 8o ter explained.

The accompanying drawings illustrate a machineembodying the invention, including the bending apparatus and the clampsfor holding the bars in bent form. In said drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan View of one form of the machine, Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on line 3 3, Fig.- 1. Fig. 4 is a detail of the means for adjusting the slotted guides. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the cams detached; Fig. 6, a view of vone of the clamp-hooks detached; Fig. 7, a detail perspective of partof one of the guides; Fig. 8, a perspective View of one set ofbending and clamping straps andloop. Figs. 9 and 10 are details of parts thereof, an d Fig. 11 is a view of one of the bending and clamping straps and loops applied to a bent bar and removed from the machine.

l 5o A designates the table or support upon which the bending apparatus is mounted. In the example shown in Fig. 1 two sets of bending devices are shown, which are constructed alike, but act upon opposite ends of the bar.

B designatesa fixed clamping-jaw, and B a movable clamping-jaw, by which the bars W are held during the bending operation. The jaw B is fixed upon the top plate of the machine, and the jawB is adjustable toward or from the jaw B by means ofva screw B2, 6o

which passes through a suitable keeper b on top of the machine and can be manipulated by a handle bias shown.

At each end of the machine is a slotted guide D fora bending-cam C. The bendingy cams, as shown, are provided with operatinghandles Cand with pivot-pins c, which pins engage the respective slottedguides D, as hereinafter explained, so that bymanipulating-itslever C each cam C can be turned ou 7o the pin c, depending through the guide D,

which guides arey preferably made of castiron and arranged in openings runninglengthwise of the machine. The guides I) are upheld in U-shaped guide-irons D', attached 75 Vto the top plate A in the ends of the openings, and these guides may be bodily adjusted toward or from the central line of the machine by means of the screw-shafts d,which extend tothe guides across the openingsand are supported inhangers A2, attached to the top A, and are rotatable but not longitudinally V,movable in said hangers. The guides D have depending arms D2, provided with screwthreaded apertures, through which pass the screw-shafts cl,'so that by rotating shafts d the guides can be adjusted laterally, as is obvious. In Fig. 1 the left-hand guide D can be moved from one side of the machine to the 9o other, enabling the bending-cams to be used on either side of the bar, so asto bend its ends Aeither alikeu inwardly or oppositely. When the cams are in the positions shown in full lines, Fig. l, the ends of the bar would be bent oppositelyinto Sfforrmand when the left-hand cam is in the position-indicatedin dotted lines, Fig. 1, the ends of the barwould be bent toward each other. The object of making the guides D adjustable is to enable roc dierent sizes of cams to be employedwithout having to shift the position of the clamps B B'.

A pivot-pin c is firmly secured to each cam C and is provided with collars c and c2, between which is a friction-roller c3, which works in the slot in the guide D. Only one cam, however, is ordinarily used in any one guide at a time.

The guides D are arranged parallel with .the bar W before the latter is bent, and the cams C are adapted to engage the adjacent ends of the bar while it is held in the clamps B B'. For the purpose of enabling the cams to bend the bar flexible bending-clamps e are employed. In the drawings I have shown a double clamp. The clamp comprises a central loop E and two oppositelyextending members e, which are preferably formed of strap metal and are provided on their inner ends with cast lugs e', which are adapted to engage the opposite sides of the loop E, said lugs being notched at e2 for a purpose hereinafter explained, and on the outer ends of these straps c are fastened L-shaped brackets es, each provided with an aperture c4 in its upstanding flange, as shown.

In practice the piece of wood or other |naterial to be bent is slipped through the loop E, with the straps econnected with the loop, but projecting on opposite sides thereof toward the opposite ends of the bar W, the ends of which abutagainst the vertical flanges of the casting e3 on the outer ends of the straps, as indicated in Fig. l. The loop on the wood bar is held between the clamps B B, the faces of which are notched, as indicated at b4, to accommodate the loop and the straps. Then the guides D are so adjusted that the cams C thereon will just contact with the end of the wood bar, and the latch C2, pivoted to the back of the lever C', is caught over the adjacent end of a bar and the casting e3 on the strap, the strap lying against the side of the bar opposite the cam. The cam is then turned by pulling the lever C', the wood having been previously steamed, as is customary, and the catch C2, holding the end of the strap e, causes it to bend the bar around the outer face of the cam,'as indicated in Fig. l of the drawings, until it is bent to the desired extent, and then while held thus bent a clamp-hook F is slipped in place, one hook end thereof being caught in the hole e4 of the casting e on the strap around the bent end of the wood, while the other end of the hook is caught over the side of the loop E in the notch e2 of the casting, as indicated in Figs. l and 1l of the drawings, holding the wood securely in its bent shape. The other end of the wood may then be bent and fastened in like manner. Then the bent piece of wood, with the clamps c thereon, can be removed from the machine. The clamp-blocks B B are provided with recesses b in their upper edges to facilitate the engagement of the hook F with the clamps, as shown. When 'it is desired to bend the ends of the wood in opposite directions, two clamp-guards and cams are employed, as indicatedin full lines in Fig. l, on opposite sides of the central line of the machine and at opposite ends thereof.v The arrangement of the guides and cams on the machine will be governed entirely by the shape into which it is desired to bend the material, and the number of guides and clamps employed will also depend upon the same fact. The cams and guides are duplicated, and where only one end of the wood is to be bent in one shape one cam and guide will make a complete machine. Where more bends are to be given the wood, the number of cams and guides will be increased. Therefore I consider my invention would be embodied in a machine in which only one guide and cani is employed, as well as in machines in which a plurality of cams and guides are employed. I consider a laterally-adjustable guide having a slot in which the cam can work back and forth, and so adjust itself to any length of wood stock to be bent, and a cam-guide adjustable toward or fromthe center of the machine, so as to allow different sizes of cams to be used with the same guide, important and valuable features of the invention and which I consider entirely novel in myself at this time and desire to protect broadly.

It will be observed that the straps e, which form a portion of the clamps, although they have no clamping effect until they are tied by the hooks F, are also an important portion of the apparatus, as without them the cams would not be able to bend the wood. By having the straps e detachable from the loop, as described, the machine can be readily adapted to bend either one end of the bar or both ends, and it also can be readily adapted to bend different lengths of wood by employing different length straps, and by having a strap on one end longer than the strap on the other end different-sized bends can be made on opposite ends of the same piece of wood, or the opposite ends of the wood can be bent to df ferent extents.

The invention being sufficiently disclosed in the accompanying drawings and foregoing description to impart a clear understanding thereof, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it can be readily adapted for bending various kinds of material and many varieties of forms and that it is not restricted to any particular size or construction or number of parts.

Having thus described my invention, what I therefore claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent thereon, is

l. In a bending-machine, the combination of a link or loop adapted to embrace the bar to be bent, flexible bending-straps attached to opposite sides of said link, and extending toward opposite ends of the bar, bending mechanism adapted to engage the outer ends IOO IIO

v aja-1,32*?

of the straps and bend them with Athe wood, and means for connecting the outer ,ends of the straps to the link to hold the wood until set, substantially as described.

2. In a wood-bending machine, in combination the frame, alaterally-adjustable slotted guide thereon, and a cam pivotally mounted on and adjustable longitudinally of said guide, all adapted to operate substantially as set forth.

3. In combination, in a wood-bending machine a suitable frame, a slotted guidethereon, means for laterally adjusting the slotted guide on the frame, and a wood-bending cam mounted on and adjustable longitudinally of said guide, the pivot of said cam beingloosely confined in the slot of the guide, all adapted to operate substantially as described.

4. In a wood-bending machine, the combination of a clamp for holding the' bar to be bent, a laterally-adjustable slotted guide adjacent to said clamp, a Wood-bending cam pivotally mounted on said guide and adjustable lengthwiseof the slot therein, and means for bending thewood around the cam as the latter is turned, substantially as set forth.

5. In a wood-bending machine, a frame, a clamp thereon holding the bar of wood to be bent, a laterally-adjustable guide on the frame adjacent to said clamp, said guide lying parallel with the wood strip before Abending, a wood-bending cam pivotally mounted upon and adjustable longitudinally of said guide, and a strap adapted to be engaged by said cam to bend the wood around the cam as the latter is turned, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. In a wood-bending machine, a bending device comprising a link or loop, a pair of exible bending-straps detachably connected to the link at their inner ends, and provided with catch-engaging devices at their outer ends, with catches having their inner ends engaged with the loop and their outer ends engaged with said devices to hold the straps in bent position, substantially as described.

7. In a wood-bending machine, the combination of the frame, means thereon for holding the bar to be bent, a loop slipped on said bar, oppositely-extendin g flexible straps connected to said loop and extending toward the ends of said bar, a pair of movable pivoted cams one at each end of said bar, catches conmeans for detachably connecting the free ends of said straps with said cams, whereby as the cams are turned the straps cause the wood to conform to the curvature thereof, means for clamping the straps in bent position to hold the wood until set, and means for adjusting said guides, all adapted to operate substantially as described.

9. In a wood-bending machine, the combination of a frame, means for holding the bar -to be bent, oppositely-extending iiexible straps connected to the bar and extending toward the ends thereof, laterally-adjustable slotted guides on the frame, means for adjusting said guides, adj ust'ablepivoted cams on said guides beside the ends of said bar, catches connected to said cams adapted to engage the outer ends ofthe adjacent straps, and means for turning said cams to cause the straps to bend the wood, all substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT N. PAGE, E. J. MATTHEWS. 

